


What Are They Up To?

by rad_twister



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Baking, Established Relationship, Humor, M/M, No Spoilers, Not Beta Read, Picnics, Polyamory, Post-Season/Series 12, Pre-Season/Series 13, Romantic Fluff, Secret Relationship, Suspicions, takes place in an AU where shockwaveshipping and compatibleshipping never happened, the NGTV has eyes everywhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25084654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rad_twister/pseuds/rad_twister
Summary: It seems like the four original Ninja are hiding something. They're just generally being... weird? It's hard to explain, but something's definitely going on. Pixal, Nya, and Lloyd are determined to find out what it is.
Relationships: Cole/Kai/Jay Walker/Zane, Nya & P.I.X.A.L. & Lloyd Garmadon
Comments: 5
Kudos: 153





	What Are They Up To?

**Author's Note:**

> this is so stupid XD

It was early in the morning—way too early—when Lloyd woke up to the sound of clattering in the kitchen. Groaning and rubbing his eyes, Lloyd sat up and threw off the blankets he’d gotten tangled in overnight, sparing a glance at the bedside alarm clock. He blinked blearily, his brain taking a few seconds to process the numbers. 

2:33 AM, the clock declared brightly. 

Oh, so it wasn’t even morning yet. 

With a new found, anger-fueled energy, Lloyd stumbled out into the corridor and made his way to the ship’s kitchen, already thinking of what to yell at whoever woke him up before the sun had even risen. After this he was going to go right back to bed and pass out for a few more hours. 

He marched right through the doorway, and stopped, words caught in his throat. 

All four of his older brothers had seemingly frozen where they were, doing whatever it was they were doing. Jay was sitting on the counter top, red-faced; Kai was right next to him holding a wooden spoon in one hand and his hair was very, very messy; Zane stood in the middle of the room holding a boiling pot of water with nothing else in it, mouth open in a small, shocked ‘o’; and Cole was carrying a bag of noodles in one arm and a jar of chocolate chips in the other. 

Lloyd blinked again, unsure whether or not he _had_ been woken up. “What.”

Total silence. 

The oven went off, and Kai dropped the spoon, ran over and took a cupcake pan out of the oven with his bare hands. (‘Cause who needs oven mitts when you have fire powers?)

“It burned,” he said very helpfully, smoke visibly wafting into his face. 

Lloyd sighed heavily. “Guys. Explain to me what in the Sixteen Realms you’re doing?”

“Uh… midnight snack?” Jay phrased it like a question. 

“We were hungry,” Cole added. 

Zane winced at the cupcake pan in Kai’s hands, who shrugged. “Cookies,” the Ice Ninja said, like that didn’t raise more questions. 

“Okay, okay, I’m not even gonna ask. Just be quiet okay? It’s two-thirty in the morning! Some of us are trying to sleep!”

They voiced their apologies, and Lloyd trudged back to the bedroom, climbing into his bunk and burying himself under the blankets again. Thankfully he didn’t hear any more loud clattering, and soon slipped off into unconsciousness once more. Whatever _that_ just was, he really didn’t want to know. 

—

“We’re going out to patrol,” Jay announced, and the other three nodded their agreement. 

Cole, who was casually resting his arm on Zane’s shoulder, explained: “Gotta make sure Ninjago is safe! Can’t risk falling out of practice like we did before Aspheera’s attack.”

Slightly suspicious, Wu looked between the Ninja, searching their expressions for anything that seemed amiss. They looked serious enough, even though there currently wasn’t much crime to be found in the big city. However, it _was_ their day off, so… if that’s how they wanted to spend it, he wouldn’t stop them. “It is reassuring to see you all so dedicated,” Sensei Wu said in his own way of dismissing them to do what they pleased. “I’m assuming Lloyd and Nya will be staying here?”

“Yes. Lloyd wishes to rest,” Zane said. “We accidentally disrupted his sleep last night and we owe it to him not to make him wake up early today.”

“Very well then.”

The four young men left, and the old master watched them go.

A minute later, Nya walked in the room and glanced around. “Have you seen Jay? We have a project we’re working on and I need him to help me with the wiring.”

“You are too late; he just left to patrol the city.”

Her expression twisted in confusion. “Really? On our day off? Hm. Well, have you seen the others?”

“Kai, Zane, and Cole went with him, but perhaps Pixal or Lloyd could be of assistance?”

“They left too? That’s weird.” She sighed. “Well, I guess Pixal could help. Thanks, Sensei!” She left the room, bounding off to go find the android and enlist her help. 

—

The four didn’t return to the base until late in the evening. And when they did, they were acting sorta… strange. It was small things, but Lloyd was watching them closely after the prior night’s weirdness. 

For instance, there was that time that he walked by the bathroom and knocked to make sure it wasn’t occupied, and Jay squeaked out that it was—but he could’ve sworn he heard someone else in there.

Or when Zane was cooking dinner, and Kai looked over his shoulder to see what he was making—but he got really close. Like, weirdly close, and his arm came up to wrap loosely around the Ice Ninja’s waist. 

And then, later, when Cole was just relaxing in the living area, Jay came up and sat next to him, pulling out one of his earbuds and whispering something into Cole’s ear that made the other laugh, his cheeks going red. They listened to music together after that, sharing the earbuds and giggling over whatever was on Jay’s phone screen.

And Lloyd stared at them from the doorway, eyes narrowed, so lost in thought he didn’t hear Nya come up behind him. 

“Have you noticed it too?” she asked.

The blond jumped, watching from his peripheral vision as the Masters of Earth and Lightning threw a surprised and almost scared look at them, obviously nervous about being caught. “Noticed what?” Lloyd whispered.

Nya grabbed his arm and pulled the Green Ninja further down the hallway for some privacy. “They’re acting differently. You noticed it too, right?”

“Yeah. Something’s up, but I can’t tell what.”

She nodded. “I don’t believe they were ‘going on patrol’ earlier today, or whatever lie they told Sensei Wu.”

“It can’t have been anything bad. Maybe they just wanted to go somewhere and didn’t want us to know?”

“But that’s the thing!” Nya looked back at the room, as if she could see through the walls and into the minds of the two secretive ninja. “What could they possibly be doing that they want to hide from us? We’re family! We’ve been through so much together! What don’t they trust us with?”

“Whatever it is, it probably isn’t dangerous. We should leave them be; I’m sure they’ll tell us eventually. Until then, we’ll just have to be patient and wait.” 

They both watched as Kai walked up to the doorway and leaned against the wood. He threw a quick smile at Nya and Lloyd before he turned to the other two ninja—still out of sight—and said, “Eight P.M.”

To which Cole responded: “Waterfall?”

The Fire Ninja nodded, and then he turned and left without another word. 

Nya and Lloyd met gazes, their expressions an identical exclamation of _‘Did you just see that?’_

“That’s it! I’m not going to wait,” Nya whispered, her decision firmly made. “I’m gonna go get Pixal. You wait here and tell me if anything else happens.”

“Got it.” Lloyd leaned against the wall under the pretense of casualness, not-so-subtly watching and listening for any clues. 

At the sound of footsteps, Lloyd looked away, pretending to pick at nonexistent grime under his fingernails. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Cole and Jay made their way to the exit of the building, talking quietly to each other and snickering about something. 

“I’m on to you…” Lloyd muttered. 

Once they were fully out of sight, the Green Ninja walked into the room to see if they left clues of any sort. Of course, there wasn’t anything. He sat down and waited for Nya to return, this time dragging a confused android behind her.

“Sit,” Nya ordered, pointing at an empty chair.

“Okay…?” Pixal sat down, her attentive gaze flickering between the two ninja. “What’s going on?”

“Aha, see, that’s _exactly_ what we want to know!” 

“Yeah,” Lloyd agreed. “The others have been acting weird, right?”

“Right.”

“And they’re being all secretive and whispery about something?”

“I’d have to agree with that observation.”

Nya cut in. “Do you have any ideas what they’re up to?”

“Not at all!” Pixal shrugged. “I’m as confused as you are.”

The Water Ninja’s eyes darkened. “We’re getting to the bottom of this,” she declared.

And so the three had a conversation about what could possibly have changed, and what exactly was meant by “Eight P.M., waterfall.” Most likely it was a location and a time for meeting up—Nya wanted nothing more than to be there, too—but which waterfall? Ninjago had so many. And who’s to say they were talking about an actual waterfall, and not a restaurant or a store with the same name?

This was getting frustrating.

—

Dinner came and went uneventfully, but while the team was cleaning up after the meal—Lloyd noticed the container with the “cookies” was missing—the four original ninja somehow managed to sneak off. 

How on earth did they do that? 

...And there went the plan to follow them. There it goes, metaphorically tossed out a window and tumbling off the edge of a steep cliff.

Unless it didn’t. Nya turned to Pixal, a scheming glint in her eye. “Can you track Zane?”

The android hummed in thought. “We’re about to find out.”

—

“Are you getting this? No, you gotta— Vinny, make sure I’m in the shot, too.” Gayle ran a hand through her hair, checking and making sure she was as immaculate as always before the show went live. Her cameraman showed her a thumbs up, and she put on a big, award-winning smile. “Hello, Ninjago City! I’m here right now to celebrate the grand opening of a new five-star restaurant that we’ve all eagerly awaited. Renowned for its bold blend of traditional and new age cooking styles…” she continued talking with a loud and clear voice to be heard over the decorative running water in front of the building, but the cameraman was getting distracted.

Vinny craned his neck, squinting in the low light of the evening—the restaurant chain’s owner was sure dramatic for her insistence on setting off fireworks to celebrate the grand opening, he thought. But that’s not what he was paying attention to. No, he was looking at the four silhouettes leaping from roof to roof above him. There weren’t many people in Ninjago City who leaped on the tops of buildings, and from what little color he could make out on their apparel, Vinny had a good idea of who it was.

Red, white, blue, black. 

They stopped on a building for a moment, seemingly catching their breath. Vinny subconciously angled the camera ever-so-slightly in their direction—call it cameraman instincts—letting the dark silhouettes of the ninja into view. From this distance, it was hard to make out the details, but it looked like one of them was carrying a basket of some sort.

And so it was that on live television, the blurry image of the Lightning Ninja grabbing the front of the Ice Ninja’s gi and pulling him down to his height to kiss him was broadcasted across Ninjago. 

“...says it’s time for the fireworks to start!” Gayle dropped her smile as that line was said, which was _supposed_ to indicate to Vinny that it was time to start filming the sky, but he _didn’t_ do that. “Vinny? Hey, are you listening?”

He pointed, instead of answering.

She turned just in time to see Jay let Zane go, and the four started up their journey again, racing each other across the skyscrapers to who knows where.

“Oh my god. Please tell me you got that,” she said, that familiar spark gleaming in her eye—the same one that earned her her name: _Gossip_. “This is great! Oh, somebody get me a pen! I need to start writing the article right now before somebody else does. You did get that on camera, right?”

“Yep.”

“Knew I could count on you. Anyone have a pen? Wait, no. No, we need an interview! Where are they heading? We have to catch up!” 

Somebody ended up filming the fireworks with their smartphone, because Vinny and Gayle Gossip were long gone.

—

**BREAKING NEWS!**

**DO NINJA ARE HAVE GAY??**

—

A calm breeze ruffled the grass, cooling down the summer air and raising goosebumps on Jay’s skin. He snuggled closer to the Master of Fire, beyond thankful that Kai’s body temperature was always so high. 

All four of them sat on a blanket, sharing the food they’d prepared for a late night picnic. That first batch of ‘baked goods’ had come out more as ‘baked bads’, so they’d had to retry after Lloyd went back to bed the night prior. This set of cupcakes was delicious by _all_ standards, and they were content to indulge in the excess sugar together. 

Call it a treat for finally getting everything together and ending that mess of relationship drama that had happened in the past few months. 

“So we’re all dating now?” Cole asked. 

“That’s the plan,” Kai said, grinning. He kissed the top of Jay’s head. “It’s all his fault, really. Completely seduced all of us, like some sort of witch!”

The Lightning Ninja chuckled. “It’s not my fault that none of you can resist my charms and tragically good looks.” (He wasn’t even kidding about that. Being the son of a movie star and all, he’d inherited some pretty fine genes.)

Zane snatched another cupcake before scooting over to lean against Kai’s other side, also enjoying the warmth. 

“Wow. Even a popsicle can get cold. Who knew,” Cole joked, even as he shuffled over to wrap his arm around Jay’s shoulder, who sighed contentedly at the added warmth. 

“Or maybe I just want to cuddle,” Zane argued, even as he laughed. “You don’t know my life.” It was a completely ridiculous statement to make, considering they’d all been living together for the past six years and knew each other better than they knew themselves.

That was part of the beauty, Jay supposed, of them all getting together like this. He still recalled the days when it was just the four of them—how _they completed each other_. Four golden weapons, four elemental masters, four lives that fate had intertwined together.

...Four lives that— _that_ _couldn’t get a moment of peace for god’s sake—!_

The bushes moved, and three people jumped into sight. “AHA! There you are!”

Startled, the four ninja stared up at the rest of their team, eyes wide and hearts racing after that jumpscare. Zane was the first to recover. “Nya? Lloyd? Pixal? What are you doing here?”

“That’s my question.” Pixal crossed her arms. “What are _you_ doing here?”

Lloyd, who’d been silently taking in the set up, suddenly gasped. “Wait, are you guys on a _date_?!”

Weak protests and denials rose up at that, but it was clear it was the truth. 

And then two more voices were heard. “There they are!” a slightly familiar masculine voice said.

“Stay right where you are!” A very familiar feminine voice called to them, running over. “Alright, we’ll cut right to the chase. We saw you on the rooftop moments ago.” She waved a tired cameraman over, who set up his equipment all while trying to catch his breath. Gayle held a microphone in front of Jay’s pale face, who looked just about ready to die. “Is there any exciting announcement you’d like to make?”

He coughed nervously. “Um, as in marriage?”

“You’re getting married? Congratulations! So how did this romance bloom? Are there any taboos against dating a teammate?”

“No, there aren’t. We— it just kinda… happened?”

Cole buried his face in his hands, also looking like he wanted to die. He briefly considered the thought of actually using his powers to bury himself right here, but knew it would be unfair to leave the other three alone to fend off the reporter. 

Gayle turned to Lloyd, who momentarily glanced around him like he was hoping there was somebody else nearby that Gayle was intending to talk to. It was just him.

“How long have you known?”

“Three seconds, I think. I just found out that they’re all dating…”

Her eyebrows shot up. “All? Did you say _all_?”

Kai groaned. “I’m escaping,” he said, and abruptly spinjitzu’d off to who knows where. The others were quick to follow, with some scaling the trees to use the leaves and branches for cover as they ran, and some simply running off and hoping the night had darkened enough for the reporter and cameraman to have difficulty finding them. 

Even if the interview had been cut off pretty short, Gayle was ecstatic at discovering this information and getting the chance to talk to the ninja. “This is going on the front page.”

It sure did. 

—

**WHEN'S THE CEREMONY?**

—

Wu sighed, eyes skimming over the newspaper a young boy had thrown at him before biking off. 

He’d had his suspicions, really, but he didn’t expect his former pupils to be _this bad_ at hiding a relationship. He made a mental note to go over the finer details of subtlety with them later. Maybe it was time for a refresher course on keeping secrets properly? 

Which was, of course, an art Wu had downright _perfected_.


End file.
